Markaz Monolith
'Markaz Monolith '(Persian: یکپارچه مرکز) is a map featured in the Battlefield 3: Aftermath expansion. This map is set just after the events of the third campaign mission, Uprising, and the location is set in Iran. The map is very urban with uneven terrain and buildings, resembling maps such as Strike at Karkand, with infantry combat at medium range to small tank battles to snipers on top of buildings. At various points along the highway, makeshift barriers are set up that can be destroyed by vehicles or explosives. This Aftermath map alone has scout helicopters, allowing positions to be taken on almost all the roofs or even inside normally inaccessible buildings in the area, along with parachute drops via Radio Beacon for an additional spawn point. Conquest Equipment Flag layouts Flags US Base The US base consists of a junkyard/container yard that leads to the city and is very open, it spawns one M1 Abrams tank, Phoenix (a modified HMMWV), Rhino (a modified civilian van) and AH-6 Little Bird. Down the highway is Construction Site. A plateau just to the north (out of bounds) provides some protection. Construction Site The Construction Site appears tiny when compared by the many damaged buildings, it will spawn one M1 Abrams (it will spawn west near the first right of the street coming from the US base) in an out of bounds place for the RU team under USMC control, and is respectively a counterpart to flag D in many (Spawning on MBT in the out of bounds zone for the opposite team) the capture radius include the courtyard the flag is in and the constructed building included with it, so if the flag is contested it is wise to check in the building just in case the enemy is in there. It's also worth noting one can spawn within the M1 Abrams from the Kit selection screen and can spawn within the vehicle similar to other aerial vehicles. Mall The Mall is the center of the map and where the map gets it's name. There are five entrances and four floors. Four entrances are located on the first floor while the fifth is located on the second floor via a catwalk leading east. The north and west can be entered by main battle tanks via a small dirt road and the south and east can be flooded by infantry. A Missile launcher emplacement is located at ground level on the eastern entrance. The structural damage allows scout helicopters to fly inside and through. This flag can only be captured from the ground or second level. Bridge Large Bridge is an additional flag in the southeast corner, between a partially standing highway overpass and a short street branching off of it. The overpass provides natural cover against rooftop attackers. The main highway leads towards both deployments, giving vehicles vantage upon much of the city. A second highway cuts through the city, winding north to a region west of the Russian Deployment. An extra tank will spawn nearby, accessible from the spawn menu. Power Station The Power Station is a small electrical station nearest to the Bank. It spawns a 9M133 Kornet facing Construction Site, or a BGM-71 TOW facing the highway towards Bank. Its capture radius is fairly small. It has a sheet-metal barricade north of it and south is a torn down highway ravaged by earthquakes. Large An extra scout helicopter will spawn nearby, accessible from the spawn menu. Bank This flag is overlooked by a few tall towers. If under RU control it will spawn a T-90 to the north. The area around the flag itself offers little cover, bar a few mounds of rubble. It also has a large gap in the roof where players can shoot down at attacking/defending players. RU base What looked like small houses are now nothing but rubble. The RU spawns on a straight highway that is far less cluttered and isn't ravaged from the earthquake compared to the US side. Bank is to the immediate south. It spawns one Barsuk, Rhino, T-90A and Z-11W. Rush Equipment Stage 1 M-COM Alpha is located on the first floor of the unfinished building where the Construction Site flag would be in Conquest. M-COM Bravo is located near the destructible door outside where Flag C would be in Scavenger. Stage 2 M-COM Alpha is located at the ground floor of the Mall, near where the Ammo Box in Scavenger would be. M-COM Bravo is located inside a small building between where Flags A and C would be in Scavenger. Stage 3 M-COM Alpha is located near the power boxes where the Power Station flag would be in Conquest. M-COM Bravo is located in the first floor of a two-story building where the Power Station flag would be in Conquest. Stage 4 M-COM Alpha is located in the first floor of a two-story building near where the Bank flag would be in Conquest. M-COM Bravo is located near where the Bank flag would be in Conquest. Squad Rush In Squad Rush the Attacking team starts out from the area of the Metropolitan Bank building, and attack through the city from north to south. Stage 1 The Attackers start from the Bank and go to attack the Monolith in the center of the map. The M-COM is located near the center of the building. After successfully destroying this objective, they move south onto the streets. Stage 2 The second M-COM is located at the edge of the corner street, in an open area. Due to its accessible location, it can be stormed quickly if the Defenders are unprepared. About 20 meters north of the objective is a destroyed bus which can serve as cover. Team Deathmatch Team Deathmatch takes place between Mall and Construction Site. There are many flanking spots and buildings to ambush people in, and much more cover than the conquest variants of the map. Squad Deathmatch Same map layout as TDM. Scavenger Uses the TDM layout. The US spawns along the north side, beyond the street next to Mall. The Russians spawn along the south side, in the Construction area. Flags ;A :Set in a pocket of buildings on the north side (US side). A Level 3 weapon spawns beside a building in this corner of the map. ;B :It is located on the second floor of the Mall, at the top of the escalators. It is also near the footbridge crossing over the street to the west. Level 3 weapons spawn on the footbridge, in a second floor ledge, and on the fourth floor following a long jump. ;C :Inside the large building between Mall and Construction Site. A Level 3 weapon spawns in one of the corner shops. ;D :Northwest corner, behind some small buildings. Level 3 weapons spawn on a pile in front of the stores, and next to the small building. ;E :A yard in the southwest corner. A Level 3 weapon spawns in a pocket behind a medium-sized building. Ammo Crate The ammo crate is inside the mall complex on the ground floor. It can easily be covered from much of the mall, as well as some long ground paths leading north and west. Gallery 2.png|A view inside the Monolith 3.png|The market near the Monolith Aftermath 3add.png|Another view from inside the Monolith Aftermath 2add.png|Another shot of the market by the Monolith bf3 2012-12-22 17-11-56-96.png|The Monolith bf3 2012-12-22 17-14-33-15.png|The highest floor inside the Monolith bf3 2012-12-22 17-13-02-33.png|Second floor of the Monolith bf3 2012-12-22 17-27-11-52.png|Power Station bf3 2012-12-22 17-11-11-91.png|An M1A2 Abrams tank near Construction Site Markaz Monolith Prima Guide 1.png|Bank Trivia *The tall structure the map is centered around gives this map its name ("markaz" means "Shopping District or Mall" in Persian). *The monolith was a shopping/commercial center, and is known as "Supernova Center" according to the flying banners attached to the building itself. It also appears to be the name of the shopping center in the single player level Night Shift. *A branch of Metropolitan Bank (from the single-player campaign mission, Operation Guillotine) can be found in this map. *A pair of red shoes can be found on a rooftop to the east of Flag B. The same pair of shoes are worn by Faith in Mirror's Edge, another game developed by DICE. If a player near the shoes listens very closely, he/she can hear Faith breathing at moderate intervals. This is a hint towards the sequel of Mirror's Edge that was in development. *The flying ceiling is low (80-100 meters) in order to prevent access to the roof of the Mall in the middle of the map. The roof is also taller than the parachute deploy point for Radio Beacons. *It is possible for players to get to the roof of the mall using an exploit with the Spawn Beacon, but only the edges are solid and any player will fall through if they get closer to the middle.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-xg558Yv_o *This is the only Aftermath map to feature aircraft. *The map was first seen being revealed on a Battlefield Blog post. References Category:Maps of Battlefield 3 Category:Maps of Battlefield 3: Aftermath